Beginning at “square zero,” the team turned
its attention to revamping its approach to
litigation, with special consideration for
how they had managed similar litigation in
the past and what they had learned. They
inventoried 16 years of previous cases to
inform the resulting program, which includes
seven key components:

• Process maps for litigation—operating
procedures for repeatable tasks on
matters, and detailed plans for specific
litigation matters. They are built around
ABA billing codes for better budget
tracking and reporting and tied to stated
expectations and guidelines. They also
link to historic document templates and
guides.

• Assignment maps and workstreams—track who on the team does what task,who is accountable internally and ext-ernally, and who is ultimately responsible.• Automated budget tracking—using thesame ABA codes as the maps and tied toquarterly litigation reports.• Online collaboration portal—housesall documents and is accessible to allmembers of the litigation team.

• Playbook—the crown jewel of the project,
an electronic repository that “takes the
knowledge out of people’s heads,” as
Smith puts it, and includes substantive
resources on legal themes, references,
statutes and case law.

In the first years of their collaboration, the
team decreased average spend by matter by
30 percent, aided by a decrease in law firm
partner time by 20 to 30 percent. Improved
legal outcomes are also part of the payoff:
Express Scripts has broken its past record
on the number of cases reported and
resolved in the same accounting period, as
well as significant cases resolved on disposi-tive motions.

The program is replicable by other companies
if they apply the same principles, says
Husch Blackwell’s Angela Quinn, director of
operations and strategic growth. “You must
just take a step back, understand client needs
and create those maps so that everyone
knows what their role is,” she says.

“The program is not only about cost savings
necessarily,” says Brncic. “Our litigation often
requires very fast turnaround and deliverables. This program allows the team to deliver
results under very tight deadlines; they
produce the highest-quality work product at
a moment’s notice.”